REBUILDING our NHS should be the highest priority for government. Meaningful workforce planning has been largely absent for a decade.

Registered nurses are the backbone of our NHS. But Nurse and midwife retention has become a massive challenge. Nurses have become powerless as the “normalisation of unsafe and inappropriate care,” as the Royal College of Nursing put it, has increased. It goes beyond unsafe registered nurse levels in hospital wards. There’s been a 45 per cent reduction in District Nurses and 32 per cent decline in Health Visitors under the Conservatives. It won’t be easy. Rebuilding our NHS workforce is essential.

I was pleased to meet the chief executive of the Royal Cornwall Hospitals’ Trust, Steve Williamson, and senior colleagues at West Cornwall Hospital recently. He said they remain positive about the Women and Children’s Hospital at Treliske. Despite the health secretary’s decision to suspend it while funding is investigated. The Conservatives promised new hospitals, but never budgeted for it! Mr Williamson assured me they’ll continue with the project until they're told to stop, but he expects them to be given the green light. Cornwall's MPs have requested a further meeting with the heath secretary. I also pressed the case for 24/7 urgent treatment at the Penzance hospital.

I’m pleased the Climate and Nature (CAN) Bill will be reintroduced to parliament by my Liberal Democrat colleague, MP Dr Roz Savage, this week. It would put the UK back on course to meet its international climate and nature targets — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with limiting global heating to 1.5°C, and reverse nature loss by 2030. It represents our best chance of protecting our natural environment and building the industries and jobs of the future.

Following a recent visit to Scilly, I’ll take up public concern with Ministers about the unaffordability of public transport. Transport to and from the Islands and its inter-island transport must be amongst the most expensive in the world. If the islands are to survive as a functioning community, bringing transport costs more closely aligned with the mainland, and achieving a semblance of parity with Scottish islands should be on the table.

I support the government’s renters’ rights legislation. We should protect tenants from bad landlords and to encourage good ones. Otherwise ever more local families will be evicted to make way for ever more holiday lets. The previous government gave billions to holiday home owners through tax loopholes. I asked the deputy prime minister to get the balance right.

OFWAT’s recent ruling implies that South West Water took an unjustifiable £17.4-million from customers and should give it back; asked to give back a higher proportion of their turnover than most water companies. These companies were set up to serve customers and protect our environment. Not to abuse their risk-free monopoly position to enrich themselves. At the very least there should be a ban on executive bonuses.

Andrew George

Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives